"Walking on the Beach," by Caleb Weatherbee

Here is a paper Caleb wrote for his Language Arts class. Ken and I loved it so much we wanted to share it with you:)

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"Walking On the Beach"

I was walking on the sandy beach with my family one nice evening. I could smell the salt from the ocean. I was thinking to myself how peaceful the beach was.
“Look! It is a full moon,” my little brother Seth said, with an amazed look on his face.
“I know because I have been telling you the whole week that it will come out today,” my dad said.
A huge wave came from the ocean and crashed; it flowed up to my sandy feet. The water was cool and tickled my big feet. I glanced at my mom and dad who were in a happy conversation that I couldn’t hear. Seth was chasing seagulls trying to get the ten dollars my dad would give him if he touched a seagull. My older brother, Jacob, was texting on his new cell phone. Thinking of all the cool shells in the ocean, I started looking for shells. I heard seagulls gawking, so I looked up and saw Seth chasing a group of white-feathered seagulls. Jacob and I laughed at Seth because he had tripped when he had run after the seagulls.
“Seth, you are going to get all sandy again if you keep running after those birds,” my mom said.
My dad said laughing, “Let him be a kid,” and then continued, “At least he is enjoying the walk.”
I looked out at the ocean admiring the blue color and the sound of the crashing waves. The wind blew sand into my mouth, and I could taste the salt. I spit the sand out of my mouth. I saw a shell sticking out of the ground and pulled it out. I couldn’t see it well because it was covered in sand. With the shell in my hand, I ran to the water’s edge and washed the sand off of the shell. After I washed it off, I saw the orange and white colors shining. I felt the smooth texture of the shell.
“Hey! Mom! Dad! Look what I found,” I said excitedly, handing it to them.
“That’s a nice one,” my mom said smiling. She gave it back to me. I stuffed it in my pocket. My family turned around heading back to the house. Everyone was silent, enjoying the nice walk. I felt a cool breeze rush past me. Thinking of how beautiful the beach was, I looked up at the full moon. I had thought how cool the moon looked and remembered the nights at home. On those nights I would sit on my bed, looking out the window and watching the stars and the moon sitting in the black sky. I stopped daydreaming and I looked at my family. They looked happy enjoying the peacefulness. I felt the sand turn wet as a wave came up and over my feet. Feeling relaxed, I thought of how much I enjoyed being with my family having a fun time. I watched my family go up the stairs to the house. Looking out at the ocean, I had thought what a great time I had at the beach. I felt a cool breeze blow by me, and I walked inside thinking of how much I enjoyed spending time with my family.

Halloween Time:)

Seth and Caleb got to celebrate Halloween a bit early this year. Our community actually had it on Oct. 25th. Halloween is on a Friday night this year, but our area only celebrates on Saturdays, so that is why it was early for us this year...That may be a blessing with the cold temps here already! The boys usually dress up in some super hero costume, but this year they wanted to be a little scary. I used to not care for that, but I don't see the big harm in having a little fun. I did it when I was little and it was just fun! I somewhat feel like I did when I was young in our community. It is an older community like many in the north, and the whole community really gets into the seasons. It is very family friendly which is nice. We had hundreds of children at our door! Even teens get into which I found odd. I stopped when I was out of elementary school, but that doesn't seem to stop the young people here. Seth will be the only one going out next year... we told Caleb this was his last. He can help Jacob handing out candy next year. It only took a short while to fill their bags up. This area is jammed packed with homes so you don't really have to go far to collect a huge bag of goodies....and of course they love to share with mom and dad:)

 
 

Seth Turns 9!

Wow, I can't believe we celebrated Seth's 9th Birthday! He's my baby and is growing up too fast. As you can see he absolutely loves the Boston Red Sox baseball team. His favorite player is "Big Papi." I made him a Red Sox cake last year which took a bit longer than this one, but he insisted on another Red Sox cake. It is a tradition for me to (ususally:) make their cakes. They also get to pick a favorite meal for me to cook them. This year Seth picked tacos, refried beans, and nachos with cheese. Today we took him to a batting cage to practice with his new baseball bat he got for his birthday, along with a pizza buffet, and last but not least a movie called "Journey to the Center of the Earth." We all got our bellies quite full of pizza, popcorn, and soda. Ken and I can tell we are getting older because those foods don't settle like they used to when we were young:) Seth loved all his gifts including his new xbox controller, his baseball bat,and especially the $$ from Grammy, Grandpa, and Papa. Our boys love to get gifts, but now that they are getting older, well....remember when?

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Jacob's Homecoming 2008!

Here are some pics of Jacob and some of his friends. He is a junior in high school this year and here they are getting ready to go out to eat and to the homecoming dance at their school. I can't believe how grown up he looks. It seems like yesterday I was doing the same thing...ugh! It never sank in when my mom and dad said.. "When you have children they'll grow up before your eyes and you'll wonder where did the time go"... I was about Jacob's age when I remember them saying that. Here I am on the other end of things. It makes me happy and sad all at the same time. I feel so privileged to be a mom and wife. That has brought me more fulfillment than any other accomplishment in my life. I treasure all the memories past and present and those that are yet to come....

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Johnny Appleseed Festival!

This weekend was the annual Johnny Appleseed Festival. It was our first time to go and we had such a good time. We enjoyed going through a corn maze and finding hidden treasures. We were hoping to pick our own apples off the trees, but they weren't doing that this particular weekend, so we had the opportunity to do the next best thing...bag our own apples! Some of the field workers were bringing in apples right off the apple trees, so we got fresh pickin':) We couldn't resist the corn on the cob and peaches too. They were absolutely delicious! We actually just ate that for dinner that night. It was a beautiful weekend and the land the apple orchard was on was just gorgeous. We plan to find a place to pick apples right off the trees...I have always wanted to do that. Ken's family love MacIntosh apples, so we bagged several of those for sure. I suppose I'll have to make my famous apple pie now:) Wish you could be here gramps:)

 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

A Special Visit!

My sister and her family had the chance to visit over Labor Day weekend. The weather was awesome so the kids could play outside and release all their energy. We had a fun weekend catching up some. I love seeing our children play together. I didn't grow up around my cousins either, so it is a treat to see our boys make memories with their aunts, uncles, and cousins. I wish we lived next to all our families on both sides. We all get along so well. I can't help it, I just love family time:)